Valencia is undoubtedly a city of great culinary and gastronomic experiences. Its healthy gastronomy based on local, fresh ingredients and the mediterranean diet give it a great advantage, it enjoys numerous local gastronomy fairs from Ontinyent, Requena and Utiel in the interior to its Mostra in the dry river bed, the gastronomy ‘concursos’ based on seafood, game and other local produce such as Cullera, Sueca and La Valldigna and many others which we have reported on over the years, Gastrónoma which will be held next weekend in the Feria are but examples.

Valencia has at its apex some of the best chefs and gastronomy as well and it is this that Valencia Culinary Festival aims to highlight between 24 February and 8th March 2020.

The festival will bring together 18 of the very best Top restaurants in ‘Valencia capital’ together with a veritable who´s who of Valencian, National and International chefs.

They will unite producers, chefs and diners in a shared experience which will produce menus between 45 and 150€ . This fourth edition of the festival in its own right a key part of National gastronomy, will bring together the best and best known chefs in a veritable ‘megafest´.

The ‘old hands’ include, Ricard Camarena, Luis Valls, Bernd Knöller, Enrique Medina, Miriam de Andrés, Alejandro del Toro, Miguel Ángel Mayor, Carlos Julián, Vicente Patiño and Alejandro García, who this year will be joined by Rakel Cernicharo of Karak, Mª José Martínez of Lienzo, Stephen Anderson of Baalbec, Germán Carrizo and Carito Lourenço of Fierro, José Miguel Herrera and Nuria Morell of Nozomi, Raúl Aleixandre of Baobab, Toshi from Restaurante Toshi, and Junior Franco of Paraíso Travel.

And in this edition Valencia Culinary Festival will have special menus created for the occasion as well as ‘menus a cuatro manos’ from invited chefs including Austrian Alfred Friedrich (of Brückenkeller), Portugal’s Vasco Coelho (from Euskalduna Studio, Oporto) and Spanish chefs Antonio Romero (from Suculent, Barcelona), Aurelio Morales (of Cebo, Madrid), Carmelo Bosque (of La Taberna de Lillas Pastia, Huesca) and Fran Martínez (of Maralba Restaurante).

Monday´s launch was just a taster of what is to come and in due course further information and booking facilities will be available on the website: http://www.valenciaculinaryfestival.es

One such innovation in this edition will be the grand ‘Night of Valencian Gastronomy ‘ to be held in the Veles e Vents building for just 140 diners on Sunday 1 March and which promises to be an unforgettable experience with a special menu.

We enjoyed lunch designed and prepared by Vicente Patiño executive chef at Saiti attended by some of the chefs involved in Culinary Festival, eg Bernd Knoller (Riff) and Alejandro del Toro together with various members of the press including Pedro Mocholi and Silvia Soria.

The menu was as follows:

– Snacks:
* Bombón.

* Infusión de hierbas aromáticas.
* Taco de sang amb ceba.
* Teja de codium.

-Entrantes:
* Salpicón de pez limón, emulsión de tomate, pimiento verde encurtido y almendras.
* Ostra, tomate fermentado y polvo helado de encurtido.
* Consomé de pollo escabechado, quisquilla y piel crujiente.
* Potaje de berenjena, pescado azul y chufa.
* Bisque de cangrejo azul y apio.

Los platos:
* Arroz cremoso de pimiento y ventresca.

* Corvina con emulsión de oloroso y colleja.

* Capuchina de melocotón.

This stunning meal was married with three wines, DO Cava Rosado Tantum Ergo 2016 (a Pinot Noir and considered by anyone who matters to be the best Cava Rosado produced!) The white was a rich Finca Calvestre Merseguera from Mustiguillo produced by Toni Sarrion and which has a lot of work on the lees and crianza in Acacia barrels.

The red wine was an interloper, a Rioja, La Montesa, from Alvaro Palacios from Garnacha and Tempranillo, round and very easy.

If this was a taster of what is to come in the New Year,Valencia Culinary Festival promises to be a spectacular and very enjoyable experience!

VÍ Vid would like to thank Vicente Patiño of Saiti for this gastronomic experience, together with Valencia Culinary Festival for the invitation and especially Montse Rodriguez of Valencia Premium who are co-ordinating the festival.